Accutane Side Effects May Lead To Crohn’s Disease Lawsuits

Posted: November 28, 2016

Accutane Side Effects Could Be To Blame. If you or someone you love has taken Accutane and been diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn’s disease, this medication could be to blame. In 2005, the Acne Treatment label was modified to warn that IBD symptoms had been associated with use of the drug. However, our lawyers do not believe the warning accurately reflected this risk.

Side Effects of Accutane Acne Treatment and Isotretionoin

Accutane was approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in 1982 as a treatment for recalcitrant acne. The active ingredient in Accutane is isotretionoin, which is derived from Vitamin A, The treatment works by drying up sebum, an oily substance produced by skin glands.

Too much sebum can lead to bacterial growth and inflammation of skin follicles, which in turn can lead to acne. Isotretionoin is also available in Amnesteem from Genpharm and Mylan, Claravis from Teva-Barr, and Sotret from Ranbaxy

Accutane has long been associated with a number of very serious side effects. A current Black Box warning on the defective drug cautions consumers about its potential to harm unborn children. Additional serious side effects of Isotretionoin include depression, IBD and IBD symptoms,Crohn’s disease and Crohn’s disease symptoms, and liver disease.

Accutane and IBD Symptoms

IBD is a group of other, more specific disorders that are characterized by inflammation of the intestines. This inflammation is long-lasting and can develop over and over again, even if it should appear to clear up. Symptoms at first may appear to be similar to those of the stomach flu. There is no cure for IBD, but there are treatments that can lessen suffering.

Severe abdominal pain

Pain in the joints

Sudden weight loss

Loss of appetite

Skin conditions

Rectal bleeding & bloody diarrhea

Fever

Ulcerative colitis often causes ulcers and inflammation in the large intestine. In most cases, it begins in the rectum and works its way up the colon.

Crohn’s disease usually affects the small intestine, but can occur in all portions of the digestive tract, including the mouth, stomach, and colon. Ulcers as one of the Crohn disease symptoms may go away without treatment, but they often recur in the same or other spots over and over again.

Treatment of IBD and IBD symptoms includes dietary changes that may require patients to reduce their intake of dairy products and fiber. Anti-inflammatory medications are prescribed to relieve the inflammation caused by IBD. Antibiotics may also be prescribed to prevent or treat infection of the ulcers. More powerful medications, called immunosuppressants, may also be necessary. In the worst-case scenarios, surgery may be required.

In 2006 the American Journal of Gastroenterology published a study that noted a link between the use of isotretinoin and isotretinoin side effects and the development of IBD. Then, in March 30, 2010, an article published in the same journal linked Accutane use to bowel problems, and even bowel disease. In conducting the study, researchers from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill reviewed data from 87 health insurance plans and identified 8,189 people who had been diagnosed with IBD. They concluded that Accutane acne treatment increased the risk of developing ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease symptoms by a factor of four, depending on the daily dose of the drug.

Hundreds of people across the country have filed Accutane and IBD and Accutane Crohn’s disease class action lawsuits claiming Accutane caused the development of IBD and IBD symptoms, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.Juries in many of these lawsuits have been very sympathetic to plaintiffs. In November 2008, for example, a New Jersey jury ordered the company to pay $13 million to three such plaintiffs. The previous April, another New Jersey jury awarded $10.5 million to a woman who blamed the drug for her ulcerative colitis, which led her to file an Accutane ulcerative colitis lawsuit.

In May 2007, yet another New Jersey trial resulted in an award of $2.62 million to a patient who needed to have his colon and most of his rectum removed after taking the drug. In October that same year, a Florida jury awarded $7 million in damages to another Accutane acne treatment user who developed IBD and suffered severe IBD symptoms.

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